Leave saving the world to the men? I don't think so.

The New Normal

Over the weekend, some jerk tried and failed to set off a car bomb in Times Square. My husband works right there. Surprisingly, we're not stressed in the least. No panic. No jump in blood pressure. No compulsive news watching. I'm more concerned about the Louisiana oil spill than the attempted bomb square.

Steve's home this week for a stay-cation, but is still getting calls from work. (grrrrr.) In those phone calls, nobody mentioned the bomb at his office. In contrast, his co-workers bit their nails during the Senate hearings last week.

Is this the new normal?

Ever since 9/11, we've gotten used to the idea that every morning when Steve rides the bus through the Lincoln Tunnel, he could end up in a pile of rubble. We've made peace with the fact that blowing up Times Square is tops on every terrorist wish list. This particular attempt seems amateurish and feeble.

I can't imagine that I was so jaded about car bombs eight years ago.

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4 thoughts on “The New Normal”

I’ve heard a lot about the car bomb and oil slick, but not much about the floods in Tennessee. Why is that? We can only hold one or two stories in our national consciousness?
(Had my nails done on Saturday and heard about how this oil spill just goes to show that we should regulate tankers more. Because they keep spilling oil! This time in New Orleans! Since CNN was on RIGHT ABOVE THEM, I had to be WTF about their interpretation.)

I lived in England for two years in the early 1990s, and it seemed there was a steady stream of bomb threats from the IRA. And yes, it does seem that you get used to it.
I can’t accurately evaluate my news-consciousness this week, because it’s NPR pledge time around here, so I’m on a bit of a news diet. How I do LOATHE pledge drives.

There was something about Tennessee on NPR this morning, though like Jody I didn’t listen to it much because the pledge drive made me turn off the radio. This was the first I’ve heard of it, but I hardly listen to the radio and don’t watch TV so that might not be much of an indication as to how it’s been reported on.
As for the would-be bomb, I think maybe a better comparison would be after the OK City bombing. People didn’t go in for bed-wetting nearly as much that time, though that was when ugly concrete planters and poles started marring city landscapes, I think. For some reason people are much more scared about planes, though this isn’t very rational.
(That wall-street types are worried about financial reform makes me feel a bit better about it. They _should_ be worried if it’s done right.)